Police: Armed robbery turned into carjacking

PEORIA — An armed robbery Tuesday night that started in South Peoria ended in a carjacking about 20 minutes later, according to a Peoria police report.

A 29-year-old Peoria man was waiting for his friend about 9:45 p.m. outside of his car in the 1700 block of West Butler Street when three men emerged armed with handguns — two of them wearing masks, according to the report.

The two masked assailants held the victim at gunpoint and demanded all of his possessions. The victim complied, emptying his pockets. But the assailants weren’t satisfied, demanding more from the victim and threatening to kill the man, according to the report.

After pleading with the armed men, they made him get into his vehicle with them to go get more money. Only the two masked assailants entered the vehicle, according to the report. The victim drove the men to a relative’s house, then called the relative to place money in a duffle bag and set it outside the front door. One of the armed men was going to walk to the front door with the victim to retrieve the duffle bag, but the victim exited the vehicle and slammed the door on the assailant before running to the most populated area nearby, a grocery store parking lot, according to the report.

The suspects drove off with the victim’s vehicle, a 2008 brown Chevrolet Impala. The victim’s relative also told police he saw the armed men drive off with the car.